Marshall Wace LLP Makes New $1.41 Million Investment in Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA)

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Heritage Financial Co. (NASDAQ:HFWA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 57,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,412,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.17% of Heritage Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HFWA. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 105.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 73,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 37,606 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 123,283 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,684,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,206,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $54,066,000 after buying an additional 465,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Heritage Financial by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 24,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 3,814 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.30% of the company's stock.

Heritage Financial Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Heritage Financial stock opened at $22.77 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.22. Heritage Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $16.55 and a 1 year high of $27.58. The company has a market capitalization of $773.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Heritage Financial (NASDAQ:HFWA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $57.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $61.74 million. Heritage Financial had a return on equity of 7.17% and a net margin of 13.64%. Research analysts forecast that Heritage Financial Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Heritage Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. Heritage Financial's payout ratio is 77.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heritage Financial news, CFO Donald Hinson sold 3,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.59, for a total transaction of $80,677.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,087 shares in the company, valued at $992,832.33. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey J. Deuel sold 7,033 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.66, for a total value of $166,400.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 70,906 shares in the company, valued at $1,677,635.96. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,311 shares of company stock worth $267,473 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HFWA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Heritage Financial from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Heritage Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Heritage Financial from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday.

About Heritage Financial

Heritage Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Heritage Bank that provides various financial services to small and medium sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, such as noninterest demand deposits, interest bearing demand deposits, money market accounts, savings accounts, personal checking accounts, and certificates of deposit.

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